61A: Overachievers, and a hint to a word that can precede both words of the starred answers (GO-GETTERS).

I'm always impressed by this type of theme, where both halves of the theme answer can be used to form new phrases. It doesn't really enhance my enjoyment while I'm solving, but that's likely because I don't take the time to think about each theme answer as I enter it, and that's not the puzzle's fault. But I go through them post-solve and usually have a chuckle or two, so it's all good. Some of the resulting "go" phrases seem kind of random (I'm looking at you, GO FAST and GO UNDER), but HOME TEAM makes two "go" phrases that really shine, so maybe it all evens out in the end.

Bullets:

1A: Beat to a pulp (MASH). This amused me. To me, the phrase "beat to a pulp" is 100% figurative. I mean, that's how you talk about the victim of a bar brawl, right? But taken literally, it's about cooking! Ha!

9A: Very cold (GELID). Can't remember if it was the LAT, but I do recall seeing this word in a puzzle sometime in the last year or so. I still don't like it.

20A: Ain't right? (AREN'T). The word "ain't" is, of course, not a "proper" word. If you fix it up right, it becomes "aren't."

29A: Doggone (DADGUM). Best word in the grid. Made me LOL.

66A: Case for notions (ÉTUI). I'm sure we all have our favorite crosswordese (and by favorite, of course, I mean most dreaded). This is mine. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I can tell you right now I'm never putting it in a puzzle. (Doug: We haven't put ÉTUI in a puzzle, have we?)

12D: "No need to wake me" ("I'M UP"). Great colloquial phrase.

22D: Twisty-horned antelope (KUDU). I like the way this looks in the grid. I would like it more if it was something I'd ever heard of.

40D: Popular Dixie drink (SWEET TEA). I was in North Carolina last year for a girls' weekend and at lunch one day one of the girls ordered unsweetened tea. Our horrified host immediately apologized to the waitress and, even though they were trying to keep the ensuing conversation to themselves, I'm pretty sure I heard the word "yankee" a couple times.

18 comments:

Mari
said...

I liked 20A (Ain't Right) and 5D (Bleacher Creature) a lot. Very cute. But 9A (Gelid) stuck in my craw (what ever that is). I got stumped on Kudu, for some reason I wanted to go with Kodi (which really screwed up my grid).

I dislike themes like this because, well, I'm stupid. I read the reveal and took it to mean that 'get' could precede both words in the starred clues. It worked until I tried to decipher WTF GET APE could possibly mean.

GELID is my #9 favorite word/phrase for very cold. The first 8, in no particular order and with repeats are "very cold" and "ice cold".

Another comment on iced tea. Growing up in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, whether or not to sweeten tea is about as important as religion. I'm not kidding, it's a big deal, and like Anonymous said the answer isn't necessarily sweetened. My family was mixed, with my dad liking sweetened tea. Needless to say, my mom won and to this day I do not sweeten my tea. I'm no Yankee! More than you wanted to know, but I couldn't let it stand that only Yankees like unsweetened tea!

My thought for this puzzle's title was "Gogo Boots" so loved the last pic, @PG.

Don't like or dislike GELID. Any more than ETUI. Just got used to both. Both seem pretty limited to CW use though.

In flyover land, where I live, if I order tea, invariably the next question is "Sweet or unsweet?" I like the short hand, though occasionally I do hear the full blown "sweetened or unsweetened?" No shame in either choice.

Thought this one was very smooth, though did have some initial tension with the MUdE/GAZEdAT cross.

I liked this puzzle, not loved, but enjoyed the solve. I FASTFORWARDed through that particular entry, since I record almost every thing so I can skip the ads.

When I read the clue for 1A, I thought it might be MASH, so I checked the clue for 1D, and confidently filled in MAACO. I always get that confused with AAMCO, another familiar crossword company that does do exhausts as a sort of sideline to its main business of transmission repair. It turns out that there is a very good reason I confuse the two companies. I consulted Wiki:

"MAACO Collision Repair & Auto Painting is an American franchisor of auto painting and collision repair shops. . . It was founded . . . by Anthony A. Martino and Daniel I. Rhode. Ten years before MAACO's founding, Martino had launched AAMCO Transmissions with partner Robert Morgan. He created both names by using the first letters from his name (Anthony A. Martino)."

@PG, I would like to nominate 60A, ERI TU, for your Crosswordese 101 list. I have finally memorized it after some DNF's over at the NYT.

All right, I will be the first to say it. GO plus two (or three, or four) of the theme entry halves could be considered 46A, XRATED. I will leave it to your imaginations, or not, as you prefer.

Loved!!! the answer GELID for 9A-Very cold. This has been in puzzles several times and I can always put the correct answer. Being a fan of the mid 1960's TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" -- I remember an episode -- from the later on reruns -- with a bad-guy character named GELID who was the leader of these Frost Men who were trying to cause trouble. Of course, "Seaview" and her crew eventually defeated these nasties. HEY !!! We all have some kind of Trivia that is stuck in our brains & memory banks !! JoMag